Almost no
topic is as confused and
difficult for a beginner to understand than feeding
tortoises in captivity. It
is also true that no other subject is as riddled with
misinformation and myths.
The proliferation of inaccurate and often lethal
advice on this subject in
books, in magazine articles and on the Internet is
astonishing. It is no wonder
that many new keepers find themselves totally
confused, and often end up making
basic, but serious mistakes.

This is not a
subject upon which it
is easy to generalize. There are innumerable variables.
Getting the diet right
necessitates an understanding of an individual species’
nutritional
requirements, an understanding of how environment
affects nutritional needs, an
understanding of basic food chemistry and some knowledge
of the vitamin and
mineral trace element metabolisms. Unfortunately, many
of those who publish
advice on this subject seem to lack such knowledge, and
hence much of what
appears in print and upon the Internet is incomplete, is
based upon
misunderstandings of these essential principles, or is a
gross
oversimplification. Whole books can be written on the
subject of feeding
tortoises and turtles in captivity, and indeed have
been. Even genuine experts
in this field often disagree upon the finer points. Most
do agree on the basic
principles, however.

The object of
this present article
is to ‘get you started’ with a simple, but safe and
effective, basic diet which
you can undoubtedly develop and refine further. The
focus is on setting some
basic ground rules that conform to the principle of ‘do
no harm’. The
guidelines presented here have been developed and
tested over many years by the
Tortoise Trust. We do not pretend that in the
simple form presented here they
represent an optimum in every case; they are, however,
fundamentally safe and
effective in practice. This is a good place to start if
you are new to this
subject and wish to avoid causing irreparable harm to
your animals. More
experienced keepers will refine these diets and optimize
them for the
individual species they keep, taking into account the
age of the animal, its
sex, alternative foodstuffs that may be available, and
local environmental
factors among other considerations.

For a much
more detailed discussion
of this topic, and to ensure that you understand the
principles upon which
these brief guidelines are based, please consult the
references given at the
bottom of this page.

We have also
included a short ‘Feeding FAQ’ that attempts
to answer some of the questions we are asked most often.
Study these carefully.

First, a few
important facts:

Variety

In the wild,
tortoises tend to be browsers. They
wander over quite a wide area and in the process take
small quantities of a very
wide variety of seasonally available food. Some species
are known to consume up
to 200 different kinds of plants during the year. The
exact combination of
plants, and their status, young, fresh and succulent or
old and dry, varies
seasonally. Even some true tropical species experience
major seasonal
(rainy/dry) variations in food availability. Redfoot and
Yellowfoot tortoises
from South America, for
example, will eat a diet comprised almost exclusively of
leaves and flowers for
part of the year, changing to a diet heavily biased in
favour of fallen fruits
later in the year. In the case of Savannah
and semi-arid habitat species, food availability often
peaks during early
spring, but is sharply reduced during the very hot
summers experienced in such
zones. In response, the tortoises may enter a state of
estivation to conserve
energy, ceasing all normal activity at such times. A
tortoise’s diet changes
continually throughout the year. From a fairly high
moisture and protein
content in spring, to a very dry, and often lower
protein content later
on.By
wandering over a wide area, and by
consuming such a variety of foods, tortoises ensure that
their overall intake
is well-balanced and can supply the essential mineral
trace elements that they
require for reproduction and healthy bone development.
Even the best captive
diets tend to be very restricted when compared to these
natural feeding
patterns.

An
excellent diet for a captive-bred Mediterranean tortoise
at the Tortoise Trust. These animals live in
well-planted outdoor pens that have been seeded with
appropriate vegetation that aproximates that found in
their natural habitats.

Calcium and
Vitamin D-3

Tortoises tend to
be found in regions where the soils
are relatively rich in calcium and other essential trace
elements. They also
have free access to sunlight for basking. Natural
sunlight contains UV-B
radiation which is required by the tortoise to
internally synthesize
vitamin-D3. This is required by the tortoise to enable
it to use the calcium it
consumes in its food. Without an adequate level of D3,
this calcium is useless
for building bones. In order to synthesize D3 properly,
both UV-B radiation and
radiant heat is required. For more on
this subject see the ‘Reptile Lighting’ article
referenced below. True rain
forest species obviously cannot and do not bask to the
same extent as species
from deserts or plains. Their diets tend to be very
different, in that such
species are usually omnivores. Much of the vitamin D3
component they require
is, in this instance, met from the animal component of
their diets. They are
therefore far less dependent upon basking than exclusive
herbivores. This is
merely one example of how environmental factors
influence diet, and vice versa.
Tortoises have quite a high demand for calcium in their
diets, especially when
undergoing rapid growth (a juvenile, for example) or in
the case of egg-laying
females. Such animals tend to actively seek out extra
calcium to meet these
needs. If it is not available, they can rapidly suffer
deficiencies.

This
California Desert Tortoise was raised on a high protein
diet. This promoted rapid growth. The diet was also
seriously calcium deficient. Instead of developing a
normal, rounded carapace shape, it developed the typical
lumpy, flattened form characteristic of MBD (Metabolic
Bone Disease)

Habitat
and diet

Tropical rain
forest species
encounter carrion and fallen fruits quite often. It is a
typical feature of
these environments. Species that inhabit dry, grassland
savannahs or arid
desert environments hardly ever encounter
carrion or fruit, however. Both
groups of tortoises have developed different ways of
dealing with the foods
that they naturally encounter. If you feed arid habitat
tortoises large amounts
of fruit it will cause severe digestive tract upsets,
diarrhea, encourage the
proliferation of digestive tract parasites such as
flagellate organisms, and
can even lead to sudden death from a maladjusted gut pH.
By the same token, you
cannot expect to keep a tropical rain forest tortoise
such as an African Hingeback
(Kinixys sp.) healthy on a diet of mixed grasses
and hays. Such a diet is very
well suited to a Leopard tortoise (Geochelone
pardalis), but is completely unsuited to
the needs of a species that has evolved to consume a
combination of
live prey, soft fallen fruits, and carrion. These
are not dietary “preferences”
- they are dietary imperatives. They are not
interchangeable. Any attempt to do
so invites very serious consequences indeed. These
ill-effects may not show up
for some time. It can even take years. By the time it
does show up, however, it
may well be too late to do anything about it. We cannot
stress this enough:
learn about the real needs of the species you keep and
try to understand the
reasons why it has those needs, and then try to find out
how best you can meet
them.

Commercial tortoise diets

It is worth
commenting upon the canned (usually dried) 'complete
tortoise diets' that are available in pet stores.
These are advertized as complete, or almost complete,
solutions to all of your tortoise nutrition concerns.
Words such as 'scientifically formulated' and 'quality
ingredients' are used to describe them. You may think
you are safe relying upon such products. We have
tested most of these products over the years, and in
our view, they should be avoided. We have also
seen numerous 'dietary disasters' attributable to
their use. These products are usually extremely high
in protein, and many contain high sugar levels in
addition. They in no
way approximate the natural diet of these animals. Rather than
describe each one in detail, we will let the following
pictures speak for themselves. These two animals, a Terrapene carolina (American box turtle) and a young Geochelone sulcata (African Spurred tortoise) were both
raised from juveniles using T-Rex brand 'complete'
tortoise and turtle diets.

Note the severe deformity at the rear of the
carapace: a condition typical of animals raised on high
protein, high growth rates and inadequate levels of
calcium.

This Geochelone
sulcata demonstrates
the thickened keratin and 'pyramided' scute formation
again typical of high growth rates sustained on a
mineral deficient diet.

This is what healthy shell growth should look
like. A Geochelone pardalis (Leopard tortoise)
raised from a hatchling on the diet recommended by the
Tortoise Trust. Note the very smooth carapace and even
growth.

Our advice is simple. We see
no need for these commercial feeding products and we
believe their use is unsafe and is very likely to lead
to the kind of severely deformed animals shown above.
We strongly recommend that you avoid them.

FEEDING MEDITERRANEAN
TORTOISES

The
diet of
Mediterranean tortoises (Testudo species) in the
wild consists almost entirely
of herbaceous and succulent vegetation, including
leaves, grasses, flowers, and
very, very occasionally fallen berries. Fruit is
categorically not a regular or
significant component of their diet. These
tortoises are almost exclusive herbivores. They
categorically do not consume
meat of any kind in the wild, other than - possibly - on
a very, very rare and
opportunistic basis. It is in no way a regular part of
their diet.

Look closely at this picture: it provides a
rare insight into what Mediterranean tortoises really
eat. This is a wild Testudo ibera in
Turkey. Myself, Lin King and Jill Martin from the
Tortoise Trust tracked these animals over many days to
record their diet and behavior. No tinned dog food! No
hard boiled eggs! No 'monkey chow'! No bananas! Just
extremely healthy tortoises consuming a diet based entirely
around the type of plants you see above....

I
have personally
worked with all of the Mediterranean species
extensively, both in the wild and
in captivity. In all of my years studying these
tortoises in the field, I found
not once single piece of evidence that any animal
protein was deliberately
consumed. The nearest I ever came was a Testudo
graeca in Morocco that appeared to have consumed
part of a dead beetle.
This may well have been entirely incidental. At the
Tortoise Trust we breed
Mediterranean tortoises frequently. These hatchlings are
reared to adults on
100% herbivorous diets. Claims that Mediterranean
tortoises “need” meat in
their diets are quite simply complete nonsense.

If
Mediterranean tortoises "needed" meat or other high
protein foods this extremely healthy, beautifully
grown animal would be dead. It was reared exclusively
on the type of diet recommended in this article.....

Drinking

During
episodes of
rainfall tortoises will drink from the puddles which
form, and they may also
approach streams or ponds. They frequently pass urine at
this time as well, and
will simultaneously dispose of the chalky white uric
acid residues which form
in the bladder. It is categorically not true that wild
tortoises rarely drink.
I have seen both Testudo ibera in Turkey, and Testudo graeca graeca in
Morocco approach streams and ponds and
drink copiously, in
addition to regular observations of drinking following
rain. During the dry
season, and in the more arid parts of their range,
tortoises rely mainly upon
the water content of their food in order to supply their
moisture requirements.
In captivity, we suggest soaking the tortoise for 10
minutes twice each week in
fresh, shallow water to ensure an adequate state of
hydration.

Mediterranean
tortoises fed on cat or dog
food, or other high protein food items such as peas or
beans, frequently die
from renal failure or from impacted bladder stones of
solidified urates. Peas
and beans are also very high in phytic acid, which, like
oxalic acid, inhibits
calcium uptake. Avoid reliance upon ‘supermarket’ greens
and fruits which typically
contain inadequate fiber levels, excessive pesticide
residues, and are too rich
in sugar. Fruit should be given very sparingly or not at
all as it frequently
leads to diarrhea, intestinal parasite proliferation,
and colic. We do not use
fruit at all with our Mediterranean tortoises and we
suggest you do the same. Unfortunately,
it is all-too-common to see
totally inappropriate and dangerous advice on feeding
these species.One veterinary website published a truly appalling
diet for Mediterranean
tortoises, heavily biased towards root vegetables and
fruit (both of
which cause major gastric disturbance in these species),
including peas and
beans which are far too high in protein, have a terrible
calcium to phosphorous
ratio and are rich in calcium inhibiting compounds. It
also includes cabbage
family leaves to excess, and finishes up with meat and
boiled eggs, neither of
which I have seen lying around in any Mediterranean
tortoise habitat I have yet
visited…

Although it
is difficult to tell, due to the extreme deformity, this
is a Marginated tortoise, Testudo marginata. This animal was also raised on a
high protein, calcium deficient diet This is a terrible
example of what poor dietary management, and the feeding
of meat based products will do to a naturally
herbivorous tortoise. .

A diet like this
fed to a rapidly growing juvenile
will result in excess growth, poor bone density and
metabolic bone disease, and
it will throw in kidney damage for good measure. I would
be surprised to see a
juvenile reared on such a diet to survive for more than
a few years. It would
certainly exhibit severe shell and other developmental
disorders.

Because
they grow quite rapidly, and are actually developing
their bone structure in the process, juvenile tortoises
are exceptionally likely to suffer serious
consequences from dietary mismanagement. There is no room
for error at all when feeding hatchlings and
juveniles. Just
a few weeks on an incorrect diet can result in irreparable harm
(adult female and her baby: Testudo kleinmani,
the Egyptian tortoise).

A fully grown
adult may survive longer, even on a truly terrible diet,
but will slowly suffer serious liver and kidney
complications over the medium-long term. Herbivores are
not equipped to deal
with large amounts of saturated fat, or with high
protein intakes.

Unfortunately,
advice of this calibre is in wide
circulation, and many who do not know better
(including many veterinarians),
continue to assume that this is what tortoises need.
Nothing could be further
from the truth.

When
planning a diet
for captive tortoises, take their natural dietary
behavior into account as
fully as possible. In the case of Mediterranean tortoises,
try
to provide a mixture of edible flowers and leaves.
Mulberry leaves and hibiscus
leaves and flowers are excellent, for example. Opuntia
cactus pads are also a
great favorite and are rich in both calcium and fiber. A
lack of dietary fiber,
or roughage, will precipitate digestive tract
disturbance, diarrhea and an
apparently much increased susceptibility to flagellate
and worm problems.

Root
vegetables are
far too high in readily digestible carbohydrates, and
have no place in the
diets of these species. Mediterranean tortoises should
really be viewed as
“goats in a shell”, and are similarly adapted to do best
on what at first sight
may appear to be a very “low quality” diet.

Although
Mediterranean
tortoises will take animal protein if offered (as will
most normally
herbivorous tortoises), in practice this leads to
excessive growth and causes
severe shell deformities, liver disease, and renal
stress. It should therefore
be avoided entirely. In our experience, tortoises that
are fed animal protein
suffer premature mortality. In other words - they die.

Another
Desert tortoise raised on an unsuitable diet. This
tortoise displays the raised, 'pyramiding' of the scutes
that is so typical of poor dietary management. Juveniles
are far more susceptible to this condition than adults
as their bones become soft, porous and fibrous during
growth phases instead of strong, dense and smooth.
Compare with the smooth shell of the Mediteranean
tortoise of the same age (reared on a correct diet)
above.

A
balanced diet for
Mediterranean tortoises can include dandelion and a very
wide range of
naturally occurring non-toxic “weeds”. Do not use head
lettuces such as
iceberg, as these contain very little in the way of
vitamins, fiber or
minerals. There are several excellent resources
available on the web where you
find comprehensive lists of suitable food plants that
are suitable for use in
Mediterranean tortoise diets. Some of these are listed
at the bottom of this
page.

Captive-bred
Mediterranean tortoises (Testudo ibera) raised
exclusively on a herbivorous diet based upon the
guidelines discussed here; high fiber, no fruit, rich in
calcium, low in protein, no animal matter, and
containing a wide variety of fresh edible "weeds".

Most
Mediterranean tortoises fare best when allowed
to graze, offering the other listed items as occasional
supplements. Do not
routinely offer cabbage, spinach, chard, bok choy,
or any vegetable related to
these, as they inhibit calcium absorption and can cause
serious health
problems. This is particularly critical in the case of
juveniles or egg-laying
females. The regular use of a cuttlefish bone or calcium
block left in the
enclosures allows tortoises to regulate the amount of
calcium in the diet. Some
tortoises like this very much, while others will refuse
to eat it. Allowing
Mediterranean tortoises to forage and graze naturally
helps the tortoise to
maintain good digestive-tract health, and greatly
assists in the prevention of
obesity. If scute pyramiding is noted, this usually
indicates that either too
much of the ‘right’ type of food is being consumed, or,
more likely, that the
overall protein content of the diet is too high and the
calcium/D3 supply is
inadequate. We recommend the use of a good quality
phosphorus free calcium and
vitamin D3 supplement at least twice per week, more
frequently for juveniles
and egg-laying females. A “raw” calcium supplement may
safely be used on a
daily basis. If the tortoise is maintained indoors for
any significant period,
be sure to make provision for UV-B exposure. The
“Lighting” article mentioned
previously should be consulted before deciding which
lamps to purchase and for
advice on how to install them.

Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizzii) - in the wild it feeds on a variety of
seasonal succulent plants, flowers, grasses and
cacti. Like all arid-habitat tortoises it is a strict
herbivore.

If you keep
Desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) you
will find that the above diet is also suitable, with
minor modifications, as
their requirements are very similar indeed to the
Mediterranean Testudo species. The Russian
tortoise, Testudo horsfieldii, though
geographically not a
Mediterranean tortoise, also has near identical dietary
requirements.

The
Russian, Steppe, Afghan or Horsfield's tortoise (Testudo
horsfieldii): another strict herbivore from a
harsh and arid environment. Overfeeding is a problem
with this species in captivity.

FEEDING
LEOPARD
AND SULCATA TORTOISES

For large
savannah species, such as Geochelone
sulcata (African spurred tortoise) or Geochelone
pardalis (Leopard tortoise), grasses and hays
are a critical dietary component. Aldabra and Galapagos
tortoises also do extremely well on this type of diet.Some
other species also benefit from the
inclusion of both fresh and dried grasses in their diet
- although certain
species, such as Redfoot, Yellowfoot, Hingeback and Mediterranean tortoises are ill-equipped to
digest the high silica content of grass fodder.
For species adapted to it, however, grass is not only
nutritious, but its fiber
content makes a significant contribution to digestive
health. For leopard and
African spurred tortoises, mixed grasses should comprise
approximately 70-75%
of the total diet.

A Geochelone
sulcata enjoys a meal of mixed hays.Hay forms an
important part of the diet of this and other grassland
species.

Availability of
grass types varies greatly according
to location. The following list of suitable fodder
grasses is based upon
availability in the USA.
In Europe, these
particular species are rarely available - although local
equivalents can
usually be found. General “meadow hay” and “orchard hay”mixes are
usually suitable, for example.
Avoid hays that have excessively “prickly” seed heads -
these can injure mouths
or eyes. The use of coarse Timothy hay is excluded on
this basis. Second or
third cuttings of grass hays tend to have less spiny
heads than first cuttings.

·Buffalo grass

·Couch grass

·Kikuyu grass

·Dallas
grass

·Blue Grama grass

·Big Bluestem grass

·Darnel Rye grass

·Wintergrass or Bluegrass

·Western Wheatgrass

·Fescue sp. grasses

This grass-based
primary diet should be supplemented
with flowers as frequently as possible (Hibiscus,
dandelion, petunia, Viola sp.
etc.). De-spined Opuntia pads, clovers and other fodder
‘weeds’
listed previously should also be included on a regular
basis.

Fresh green
grass is also a favorite of Leopard and Sulcata
tortoises

FEEDING
INDIAN STAR TORTOISES

Indian Star
tortoises (Geochelone
elegans) have dietary
requirements that fall mid-way between that of
Mediterranean tortoises (Testudo
species) and Leopard
tortoises (Geochelone
pardalis). In captivity,
they should not be given fruit either in quantity
or on a routine basis, or they will suffer serious
digestive tract disorders. They need a diet which is
very high in fiber, is low in sugars and easily
digestible carbohydrates, and which is primarily based
around coarse green leaves, mixed grasses, and flowers.
Juveniles and egg-laying females require large amounts
of calcium. Use a supplement - always. Good foods
include:

Hibiscus leaves
and flowers

Mulberry leaves

Fresh lawn
grasses (this is a grazing species)

Petunia leaves
and flowers

Clover

Dandelion

Plantain (the
'weed', not the similar sounding fruit)

Sanseveria
sp.

Mesembryanthemum
sp.

Crassula
sp.

Try to avoid a diet
based upon 'supermarket salad'. This will not offer
adequate fiber, and tends to be very poor in essential
trace elements and other nutrients. Thousands of baby
Indian Star tortoises are sold each year in some parts
of the world as pets: the vast majority die within 12
months because the basic feeding advice given here is
ignored. If you keep this species, you must provide
an adequate diet and must ensure that both
calcium and vitamin D3 needs are met.

FEEDING
REDFOOT, YELLOWFOOT AND AFRICAN HINGEBACK TORTOISES

A wild
Hingeback tortoise (Kinixys belliana) enjoys a meal of a live snail (photographed
in the field, in South Africa). Snails and millipedes
are a regular part of their diet.

These tortoises
are basically omnivorous or a greater
or lesser extent depending upon species. Include some
low-fat animal protein in the diet of these
species. Protein
(or more probably, an
amino-acid) deficiency has been noted in some Red-foot
and Yellow-foot
tortoises raised on entirely herbivorous diets. We
recommend re-hydrating dried
cat foots with additional minerals and vitamins as for
turtles. Provide one
meal per week containing animal protein. We now give
about 25g (1 ounce) of moist cat
food to a fully grown (10 kg/ 22 pound) Red-foot
tortoise on a weekly basis
(proportionally less for juveniles). Fruits are also
part of the diet of these
species in the wild - unlike Leopard or African spurred
tortoises, their
digestive tract copes easily with this richer, sweeter
intake. The same
frequency seems to suit Hinge-backs, which are also
highly omnivorous in
nature, but here approximately 5-10 g of animal protein
per week is more
appropriate (depending upon size). It is also important
to note that these
tortoises, if allowed access to a damp, moist garden or
well vegetated tropical
house will usually find slug, snails and night crawlers
for themselves. This is
both psychologically and gastronomically stimulating for
them in addition to
helping out with their owners' garden pest control
efforts! Needless to say,
never use slug pellets or other toxic chemicals in any
garden where tortoises
(of any sort) are kept. Millipedes and similar
invertebrates constitute an
important part of the diet of Kinixys sp. in
nature.

FEEDING
AMERICAN BOX AND WOOD TURTLES

These North
American semi-terrestrial turtles are also
omnivorous in their feeding habits. In the wild, they
consume slugs, snails,
earthworms and similar small prey as well as fallen
fruits, mushrooms and some
green leaf material. Juvenile box turtles are often
almost exclusively
carnivorous, their diet broadening out to include more
vegetable matter with
increasing age.

It is a common myth that omnivorous turtles do
not suffer from nutritional disorders to the same extent
as herbivorous species. Not true. This poor box turtle (Terrapene carolina) was raised on a diet of canned
dog food without adequate calcium supplementation....

As with all
tortoises and turtles, great care must be
taken to ensure a varied diet adequate in all
essential trace elements. Regular
supplementation of the diet with a multi-mineral
powder is therefore
recommended - extra calcium supplementation during
their carnivorous phase is
especially critical.

PRACTICAL
GUIDELINES

·
Try to ensure that all diets are as varied as possible -
in this manner a wider
cross-section of natural trace elements will be made
available.

·
Do not dose with 'pure' vitamins unless under veterinary
direction - some pure
vitamins, including vitamins A & D, are highly toxic
if taken in excess.
These should only be used as part of a treatment program
to correct a properly
diagnosed specific deficiency.

·
Provide vitamins orally rather than by injection, where
required, unless there
are compelling veterinary reasons to the contrary.

·
The regular use of a safe, properly formulated
multi-vitamin and mineral
preparation will ensure that dietary deficiencies do not
occur.

·
The best supplements for tortoises are phosphorus-free,
contain a wide range of
mineral trace elements, include vitamin-D3, and are free
of added amino acids.

·
If you maintain tortoises outdoors in a geographical
zone where natural UV-B
irradiation closely approximates that of the habitat in
nature, then you many
not need to provide additional oral D3 supplementation,
though calcium and
other trace elements should still be provided. Keepers
in northern climes are
generally advised to rely upon oral D3 supplements.

·
Artificial UV-B lighting may be used, but fluorescent
tubes should be changed
regularly (at least every 6-9 months) and multiple tube
installations will be
necessary to ensure adequate UV-B exposure for most
species. The new UV-Heat
self-ballasted mercury vapour lamps are excellent, and
provide an ideal
combination of high levels of UV-B and UV-A, with good
quality visible spectrum
rendering, with radiant heat for basking and improved
vitamin D3 synthesis.

·
Carnivorous turtles, and tortoises with a high degree of
omnivory, will receive
a significant proportion of their D3 needs from the
animal protein proportion
of their diet.

·
Aim for a high calcium, low phosphorous content diet.

·
Avoid plants high in oxalic or phytic acid.

TORTOISE
& TURTLE FEEDING FAQ

(FREQUENTLY
ASKED
QUESTIONS)

These are real
questions from real tortoise keepers.
If you have a similar question that requires answering
you can submit it to us
at tortoisetrust@aol.com
.We cannot promise to answer it here, but if it
is of general interest we may do so.

Q. I
understand the need for a calcium supplement,
but can I use egg-shells? I read somewhere that these
are a very good source of
calcium.

A. Eggshells are
not a good source of calcium, in
fact. They can also contaminate your animals with
salmonella. A far better,
safer source of calcium is plain calcium carbonate. This
can be obtained very
cheaply, in bulk, from animal feed stores. You can also
use any food-grade
calcium supplement, or any phosphorus-free specialty
reptile supplement. We
strongly recommend avoiding the use of poultry
eggshells.

Q. If Mediterranean
and Desert tortoises do not eat meat, where do they
get their protein from? I
thought they needed at least some meat so that they
got some protein in their
diet?

A. Flowers,
leaves, seeds and grasses contain
perfectly useable levels of protein, especially for the
slow fermentation-based
digestive tract of these tortoises. Think about some of
the largest mammals
around, elephants and giraffe! They are also exclusive
herbivores and easily
meet all of their protein requirements from the
vegetation they graze upon. It
is a common misunderstanding to assume that “meat =
protein” and “vegetables =
no protein”. This is completely untrue. Even some
vegetable matter can be
dangerously high in protein for tortoises; peas, beans,
alfalfa and beansprouts
in particular are far too high to be used safely.

Q. Can I use
Tofu to give extra protein as it is
derived from vegetable sources?

A. No. It is very
high in protein, and is also high
in phytic acid. In addition, it is very easily digested
which means that it is
even more damaging than feeding plain peas and beans.
Tortoises that are
maintained on a correct diet do not need ‘extras’ like
this. It does far more
harm than good.

Q. The reptile
expert at the pet store says that all that a tortoise
really needs is a vivarium and a diet of lettuce and
fruit. Your site does not agree with this. Who should
I believe?

A. It is very
difficult for beginners when they receive such
conflicting advice. Before we show you the actual
effects of the method your pet store 'expert' is
recommending, we would point out that pet stores are
interested in making a sale. They also want to sell you
expensive vivarium equipment in addition to the animal.
We are not trying to sell you anything - we are merely
trying to prevent your animal suffering as a result of
incorrect advice. Our advice is free. We strongly
recommend that if you are unsure, join the Tortoise
Trust e-mail list. There are more than 1,000 keepers on
that list from all over the world who can give you
totally impartial help and advice. That said, this is
what will happen to your tortoise on the diet this
'expert' is suggesting:

Russian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii)
raised in a vivarium tank and fed on lettuce and fruit.
There is severe reduction and deformity of the carapace,
typical of a diet that was grossly deficient in calcium
and/or vitamin D3. The beak is also severely overgrown.
Fishtank-type vivaria are NOT appropriate environments
for terrestrial tortoises (see 'A Habitat for
Horsfields' elsewhere on this website). Many
thanks to tortoise rescuer Marty La Prees for
donating this photograph. The tortoise is now in a
suitable environment on a proper diet. Unfortunately,
the deformity can never be reversed.

Q. One book I
have says to feed cheese and boiled eggs
to tortoises. What do you think?

A. Show me where
tortoises get cheese and boiled eggs
in the wild…. no, you should never feed items like this.
Pizza, burger,
ice-cream, bread, milk, donuts, monkey chow, vegetable
oil or any one of a
dozen other totally unnatural and inappropriate foods
that might be
‘recommended’ by some books or websites also fall into
the same category. There
is a simple rule: if a tortoise does not eat the same
item, or something very
similar, in the wild there is no reason to offer it in
captivity. It is not
necessary and is far more likely to do harm than it is
to do any good.

Q. My tortoise
has a white, chalky discharge with its
urine. I was told this means it is suffering from too
much calcium in the diet
- is this true?

A. No. Definitely
not. This is uric acid, and it has
nothing at all to do with calcium. It is a by product of
the protein metabolism
in reptiles and in birds. If it is concentrated and
thick it suggests one of
two conditions: an excess of dietary protein, or
dehydration. It is normal to
see some uric acid, but too much requires investigation
and a possible change
in your husbandry practices.

Q. Instead of
using a calcium supplement, can I
guarantee enough calcium intake by only choosing
vegetables that have a better
than 2:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus?

A. In theory,
yes. In practice, however, probably
not. The difficulty here is knowing that the items you
select contain the
levels of calcium that you expect them too. Short of
having each item analysed
individually (hardly practical) there is simply no
way of telling what they actually
contain. Published tables look fine in theory, but they
only give
approximate averages, and produce typically varies from
published levels by
several hundred, or even several thousand percent. I
would certainly not advise
relying upon this kind of information for such a
critical purpose. Adding a
calcium carbonate supplement is 100% safe, and can
guarantee that adequate
levels are available.

Q. Why should
I choose a “phosphorus free” supplement
rather than a supplement that contains a 2:1 ratio of
calcium to phosphorus?
Isn’t phosphorus important too?

A. Yes, it is. It
is also very abundant in just about
all green, leafy vegetables and plants, and there is
therefore no need at all
to provide any more. It is calcium that tends to be
seriously deficient in
herbivore diets, not phosphorus. By using a 2:1 ratio
supplement, you may increase
the overall amounts of calcium and phosphorus available
to your tortoise, but
you will do nothing much to improve their ratio. You
need an absolute minimum
ratio of 2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus. This is a
minimum, not an
optimum ratio. We aim for a minimum 3:1 ratio. Many
self-selected items in wild
tortoise diets have a 5:1 ratio or better.

Q. Is it OK
just to use calcium carbonate as a
supplement, or should I be concerned about other trace
elements?

A. Adding calcium
carbonate is a safe way to prevent calcium deficiencies
(provided vitamin D3 is also available) and the protein
content of the diet is within safe limits for the
species in question. You are
correct, however, in pointing out it will not help with
other potential mineral
deficiencies. This is why in addition to daily use of
calcium carbonate, we
also use a general multi-mineral supplement. These
contain many
micro-nutritional elements that may otherwise not be
present in a captive diet.
Examples of such products include ‘Miner-All’ and
‘Nutrobal’. We use these a
couple of times a week, and find that this does appear
to be adequate to
prevent such deficiencies. We increase frequency for
juveniles and egg-laying
females.

Q. I keep a Geochelone
sulcata (African spurred
tortoise) and I live in Arizona.
My tortoise is outdoors almost all year. He is doing
well, but I worry if I
need to provide an oral D3 supplement in addition to
the calcium I have always
provided daily?

A. You are
fortunate to live in an area with a high
concentration of sun-loving reptiles and many days a
year of cloudless skies!
Like your tortoise, they are successfully synthesizing
their D3 requirements
from the UV-B component of solar radiation. In your
situation, we believe you
have no need of any oral D3 supplementation. In you
lived further north, or in
a cloudy area, however, that situation would change. In
such regions, at least
some regular oral supplementation is highly advisable.

Q. Many books
I have read suggest that I should use a
vitamin-A supplement regularly? What do you think?

A. On a good
diet, as suggested above, this is not
necessary. Certainly, we do not advise use of ‘pure’
vitamin A or D supplements
as there is a possibility of overdose with all of the
fat-soluble vitamins if
used in this manner.

Q. Can I use
‘liquid sunshine’ D3 drops instead of
spending all that money on expensive UV-B lighting
systems?

A. We absolutely
do not recommend products like this.
They are potentially very dangerous (see answer to
vitamin-A question, above).
Overdoses are very possible with ‘pure’ D3 products.
Avoid them.

Q. Can
tortoises become overweight?

A. Yes, they can.
Species which naturally have very
short annual activity cycles, due to hibernation,
estivation, or both are
especially susceptible to problems of this nature
resulting from the excess or
‘glut’ of food available in captivity. Species such as
the Russian tortoise
(Testudo horsfieldii) and Geochelone sulcata
(African Spurred tortoise) are notoriously difficult in
this regard. We have seen
some truly obese examples. In fact any tortoise
maintained on a really
inappropriate diet will become overweight, and
ultimately may suffer from fatty
infiltration of the liver. Any diet that is high in
saturated fat is almost
guaranteed to produce this outcome in an herbivorous
tortoise.

Available from Carapace
Press. The basis of this article and a highly
comprehensive discussion of the many issues surrounding
the nutritional management of captive tortoises and
turtles. This book has received 5-star reviews and is
highly recommended to all keepers.